In Oblivion, you would have to ability to go to jail or pay a fine or resist arrest. All okay options but why do you have to go through this long process for the smallest crimes? I remember accidentally stealing something in a house or hitting a person by mistake. No matter what, the guards would come after you immediately. First off, I didn't like how they knew instantly what you just did. And second, I hated how you had to be transported to another area every time you paid the fine. I think both of these features should be changed in Skyrim. What do you think and what do you think should be changed about the crime system, guards, jail, etc?

Small fines should be payed on the spot. That's it. For loitering and stuff.

They should put you in front of a judge, like in Daggerfall. Paying fines to a city guard is the same as bribing them, and would lead to crazy corruption.

Hiding the evidence and denying the charges with enough speechcraft should also be an option.

Well I guess u don't pay to the guards. They take u to the jail and u pay their.. But small fines like a 'spot' fine can be payed. Or maybe add a bribe option?

Don't recall loitering being a crime in Oblivion.



On topic:

This concern is probably one of the most unwarranted because Bethesda has proven that they listen and psychic guards is one of this community's biggest complaints.

??

meaning you could get in a shop undetected ( transparent eye) but before you even get to stealing anything a guard appears out of nowhere.

psychic, sorry

It was a crime in Daggerfall, but I think he was just mentioning a minor crime as an example.

It is handled best in fallout new vegas, if someone sees you stealing they shout "Thief!" at you and take all stolen items back. You may also loose some ranking with that particular faction, there is no additional conversation and no one demading you pay or go to jail.

Of couse if you do this too much they will begin to hate you and attack you on sight.

Oh right. Yeah that was anoying. I'd also like it If they made it that if u shot someone with an arrow when u have a see-through eye u won't get a bounty.

Is that what you meant? If so that is psychic guard syndrome at work.

and i walso want bounties ( small ones ) to be region restricted, how can a guard on the other side of the country know i sole a pair of boots from another city

Although I don't like how the guards in Daggerfall were (mainly) psychic (i.e. looking through property and sleeping in people's homes), I do like the justice system a lot.

If arrested by guards, you are taken to court and are asked if you are guilty or not guilty of the crime committed. You are then able to debate or lie. If you are in the Thieve's Guild or Dark Brotherhood, this affects the chance of being let off. Your reputation takes a hit in the region, and if guilty you spend time in jail depending on bad your crime was. Often you are kicked out at night with low health (presumably the guards beating you up before releasing you). They sure knew how to give justice in that game :yes: Certainly a lot better than Morrowind's system where you could pay off a fine for murder which I found far to easy and bizarre.

I agree fully with your first point, but partly with the second. No psychic guards, that is a must.

Here's my idea for point two:

When you committ a crime and the guard sees you, he gives you two options concerning the crime (apart from resisting arrest of course).
Either you bribe the guard, and you get away with your crime... the bribe should be high. After that you get released, no need to be transported...
Or you pay the fine, and get transported to the jail-place. The fine should be a lot lower than the bribe, but still so high that you really don't wanna get caught committing a crime.

Now, if you committ a "lesser" crime, the bribes/fines are naturally lower. For "major" crimes, then the bribe should be very very very big, and then there should be no option for paying a fine; instead only being able to go to jail.


As a law student, something I'd like is also have the ability to defend yourself in court. The Thieves' guild spoke of "courts" in Cyrodiil... but where were they?
A pretty advanced dialouge system should be able to pull this off. Giving different dialouge options for each specific crime you can be accused of, allowing you to defend yourself in different ways for different crimes. The dialouge should be dynamic as well; it should change from some random system, so you don't always see the same dialouge options for a specific crime. That way, you have to actually think what you're saying.... so that you can't learn the "right" dialouge lines for each crime by heart.

This could be a cool thing that allows players to get away with crimes in another way ... a way that forces you to think

While I'm in the middle of doing my business and suddenly getting my playing view cranked forcibly around to face the guard is quite annoying. Also, getting snitched out by your own horse is very much like WTF! Maybe BGS could make it so the guards pull out their weapons, shouting "HALT!" and threatening action if the player doesn't comply and then the player can do something like the yield idea in Oblivion to indicate to the guards that the player is putting up their hands and wants to go peacefully. Or if the player resists or tries fleeing, then the guards could find a way to knock the player off their feet and then hold their sword to the player's throat, at which point the player gets arrested. Of course though, even that would be too extreme a response for trying to put a knocked over flower planter (that's also worth nothing) back on the table.
Plus you think these guards would do a better job of their own community service and clean up the corpses around town a little faster.

*picks up zero value spoon*

"Not on my watch!"

Psychic guards are one of the areas which I'm sure has been tweaked.

Zero value was an unusual concept in Oblivion, and one I hoped they would get rid of ... until now. Maybe if you knock over something of zero value, it shouldn't be a crime to put it back. Stealing it offers nothing but encumberance, so people would probably leave that stuff alone ... with the exception of pillow forts, of course.

I like the idea of bribes, but only in certain cities where the Guards are corrupt. I also found it interesting that I could slaughter several people in cold blood and the Guards just said " Okay, pay a fine and have a nice day!!" :confused:

Another thing I'd want implemented is a more realistic system regarding fines. If you commited a minor crime, and didn't have enough money then you'd have a week to pay. If you didn't pay then the Guards would haul you off to jail, and if you skipped town then the next time they'd see you you'd get some more serious consequences.

One last thing, if you hit somebody once with your fist the punishment shouldn't be as severe as if you had beat the person within an inch of their life with a mace.

I like the court system, but it would have to be implemented well, and you shouldn't be taken to court for stealing a spoon.

Edit:Court Sytem Idea sorry

I think in Oblivion, after your bounty surpassed 10,000, you didn't have the option to pay a fine.
But still, you shouldn't be able to pay a fine and go on your dandy way after killing even one person.

If you get caught lifting an item of small value, the guard - or, better yet, the owner - should confront you. You should be given the opportunity to return the item and not have a big fuss made about it. However, disposition with the owner will drop.

If you touch something, I don't think there should be a huge fuss. The owner should just initiate a conversation that asks you not to touch their stuff, and if you keep touching it they'll get grumpy at you and maybe call a guard.

I think it would be cool if NPC's disposition affected their level of trust.
- NPCs that are neutral will be wary. You might be allowed to enter their home, but they'll keep an eye on you and tell you not to touch their stuff.
- NPCs that have a low disposition will tell you not to enter their homes. If you enter the house after-hours and are caught, they'll assume you are a thief
- NPCs that trust you will let you enter their home, even when they are away. You can crash in their bed, and even touch their stuff. They might even let you take something, if you ask nicely.

I mean, look, in TESIV you could have everyone with 100 disposition, but they wouldn't trust you further than they could throw you. How much sense does that make? None.

*Picks up beer to put on the bar* *Guard appears from nowhere* "Stop there criminal scum! You must pay the fine or go to jail!" "But all I was doing was putting the beer back on the bar!" "Well pay the fine anyway!"

Yeah.... There needs to be better guard systems. And no more of those omniscient guards either.

Guards were one of the bigger faults of Oblivion IMO. Trying to make things difficult, gamesas just made things a pain and annoying.